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Auto manufacturers today are scratching their heads, trying to figure out why the millennial generation has little-to-no interest in owning a car. What car makers are failing to see is that this generation's interests and priorities have been redefined in the last two decades, pushing cars to the side while must-have personal technology products take up the fast lane.
It's no secret the percentage of new vehicles sold to 18- to 34-year-olds has significantly dropped over the past few years. Many argue this is the result of a weak economy, that the idea of making a large car investment and getting into more debt on top of college loans is too daunting for them. But that's not the "driving" factor, especially considering that owning a smartphone or other mobile device, with its monthly fees of network access, data plan, insurance, and app services, is almost comparable to the monthly payments required when leasing a Honda Civic.
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With recent studies showing a huge decline in auto sales among the millennial marketplace, it's no wonder auto manufacturers are in a mild state of panic, realizing they're missing out on a generation that wields $200 billion in purchasing power. Numbers don't lie, and over the last few years statistics have shown a significant drop in young people who own cars, as well as those with driver's licenses—and that decline continues among the youngest millennials, meaning this is not a trend that's going away anytime soon. From 2007 to 2011, the number of cars purchased by people aged 18 to 34, fell almost 30%, and according to a study from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, only 44% of teens obtain a driver's license within the first year of becoming eligible and just half, 54% are licensed before turning 18. This is a major break with the past, considering how most teens of the two previous generations would race to the DMV for their license or permit on the day of their 16th birthday.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Wednesday September 14 2016, @02:11AM
With a smartphone and data in the cloud, you have less paperwork and no laptop to cart around, and you can hail an on-demand ride from wherever you want. Plus on public transit you can read, listen to music, create content, chat with friends, answer email, and play games -- it's no longer lost time*. I suspect that time may even be too valuable for them to commit their money, time, and attention to driving around and maintaining personal transportation.
I think the automakers would benefit from setting aside their cars, bank accounts and families for a month, then try to live their lives and see what their priorities and resources naturally drift towards.
* Oh, and also make phone calls. Can't believe I forgot about that.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 14 2016, @03:19PM
so wait -- a laptop is hard to port around? It is called a "laptop" precisely because of that portability and its ease of use -- it is small enough to fit on one's lap. The prior type was portable, but called a 'luggable' and not a 'laptop'.
Perhaps if people believe laptops are too difficult to port around, they are buying gaming laptops or that study that demonstrated millenial men are physically weaker than the past three measured generations... has some credence to it.
I think automakers would benefit from lowering the prices and cutting out a lot of the technology shit people desire but can't affford. Making expensive techno cars and marketing them towards the 'internet natives' only frustrates people because the intended audience is unlikely to be able to afford all that crap in what should be basic transportation.
But I am crazy like that. I even would put the laptop in a bag in the foot well behind the drivers seat--or even in the trunk.
*lost time used to be compensated for via reading a book or actually creating content via paper and pencil or even pen.
I have to wonder how people under 35 think life was like without phones and internet. Some idiots like me only dreamed that shit up without having it to create content on.
(Score: 2) by JeanCroix on Wednesday September 14 2016, @04:43PM
Interesting idea, and it just might appeal to the generation which made the fixed-gear bicycle a big thing again.